Machine tool



H. DALES MACHINE TOOL April 7, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov. 5, 1 951 Aprl 7, 1953 H. DALEs 2,633,709

' MACHINE TOOL Filed Nov. 5, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .29 la. r sa' 4s' W f7 /wfnlron HERBERT D// ES @y r ATTI/S..

Patented Apr. 7, 1953 MACHINE TOOL Herbert Dales, Leamington Spa, England Application November 5, 1951, Serial No. 254,935 In Great'Britain September 13, 1950 Claims.

The invention relates to a machine tool of the kind in which an axially movable tool-carrying end of a driven tool spindle is, in an automatically operated cycle, iirst advanced to a position for operating on a work-piece, is then fed further but at a reduced axial speed for operating on the work-piece, is allowed to dwell at the end of the feed movement' and is finally returned to its initial position in readiness for another cycle.

The object of the invention is to provide a small, self-contained machine tool of this kind which will be relatively inexpensive to produce and emcient in operation.

According to vthe invention `the machine tool includes a hydraulic pump, and an electric motor which is connected yfor driving it and the tool spindle, the pump being for delivering its output to a hydraulic cylinder for displacing a coacting -hydraulic piston in one direction against a bias, and the piston being connected to the tool-carrying end of the spindle for moving it in sympathy, there being a valve means which is actuated, by a part moving with thepiston when the latter is at an intermediate point in its travel in the said one direction, for diverting a proportion of the pump delivery from the'hydraulic cylinder, whereby to provide the feed at reduced axial speed for the said tool-carrying end, there also being a 4second valve means actuated by a part moving with the piston, which second valve means, when the hydraulic piston reaches'the end'of its travel inthe said one direction, enables a time-delay means to be actuated for connecting the hydrau- Y lic cylinder to exhaust and fordiverting the remainder of the pump delivery from the hydraulic cylind`e1', whereby, after a dwell provided by the time delay, the piston is returned by its biasf sing means andv restores the two valve means to their initial positions, and there also being a detent means which operates releasably to main- .tain the piston in its said initial position.

lIn this way, when the electric vmotor is running andthe machine tool is being used, for example, as an drilling unit, the cycleof operations is initiated by releasing the detent means, and this causes the pump delivery (which, while the detent meansrwas operating, was being diverted to the pump intake) to move the hydraulic piston iirstly to advance the drill up to a work-piece at an axial speed which is greater than that desirable for the drilling operation, and then to vfeed the drill at an appropriate axial speed into the Lworkl-piece. I The drill is thenv allowed to dwell at the-end of its feed movement, for propj erlyclearing the bottom of. the bore, whereaft'er it is withdrawn and re-set by the detent means in readiness for the next drilling operation. l

Conveniently the tool spindle is formed in two relatively non-rotatable parts of which one is axially 'located and receives the drive from the electric motor, the other part of the tool spindle being axially slidable with relation to the first (e. g., by means of a splined connection) and having provision (e. g., a chuck) at its outer end for carrying the tool to be used for the particular operation, the axially slidable part of the spindle being journalled with axial location in a crosshead vwhich is fast with the hydraulic piston for moving the drill, or other tool axially in sympath with the latter.

According to a further feature of the invention two or more of the machine tools are suitably arranged to perform different operations on a work-piece in sequence, and at least one of the machine tools, when its operation is completed and its tool spindle is returned to its initial position, being connected to release the detent means of another of the machine tools to automatically initiate a further one of the operations on the work-piece. In this Way, as each machine tool completes its own operation, it sets in motion a neighbouring machine tool for performing an other operation on the work-piece.

In the accompanying drawings: f Figure 1 is a section, on the line I--I of Figure 4, through' one form of hydraulic drilling unit according to the invention;

Figures 2 and 3 are sections respectively on the lines 2-2 and 3-3 of Figure 1 but omitting vsome of the parts of the unit;

Figure 4 is an end view from the right of Figure 1, but with an adjacent end plate and bearing removed; and

Figures 5, 6 and '7 are, respectively, sections on the lines 5 5, 6 5 and 'I-'l of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the unit includes a body I i which, at the right of Figure l, is formed as a well I2 with a cover plate I3 to provide a reservoir for hydraulic duid, which latter is indicated at Id. The plate I3 shown, is an'end plate of an electric motor (not shown) having its output shaft (also not shown) splined within a sleeve I5 which is rotatively supported in a bearing I6 fast with the plate I3 and which is endwise located by a shoulder I8 (see Figure 3). The sleeve I 5 serves as an axially located part of atoolcarrying spindle of which an axially movable part I9 has external splines 20 engaged by coacting internal teeth 2| of the sleeve.

. The spindle part i8 is journalled,Y with axial location, in a cross-head 22 which is slidablt7 guided by a substantially part-cylindrical wall 23 of the body, the wall 23 and cross-head being formed `as indicated at 2d in Figure 7 to prevent relative rotation. The outer end of the Wall 23 has a spigot'al connection with a nose-piece 25 having a counter-bored recess to house a bearing 246, inA which the outer end of the spindle part IS can slide and turn. The bearing 2t is located by a cap 2l' which is held, as by screws (not shown), to the nose-piece. As indicated in Figure l, the outer end of the spindle part I9 can be provided with a chuck 23.

The sleeve l also drives, through aV gear pair Y 29, 3i), a gear pump 3l of which the intake pipe 32 communicates with the duid if: in the reSef--f' voir through a filter 33. The latter is` suitably located by a removable drain plug 34 and is so disposed in the reservoir as to be submerged in the kuid I4 (assuming, of course, that there 4is an adequate quantity of the latter) no matter whether the unit be held with the spindle 'part i9' in the horizontal position shown *orr dirested vertically upward or downward.

The pump 3i delivers, through ducts 35, Sie, to an annular gallery which is dened between radial shoulders 3l, 38 of the sleeve l5 and a bore 39- of the body, `and the fluid then passes, through a port 40, into a main duct 4i. The latter has lateral communications 42, 43 (see Figure 6) with movable control valve members presently to be described, and it has a constriction 44 through which it communicates with a second annular gallery, which is dened between radial shoulders 32, 45 of the sleeve le and the said bore` 39, under the control of a valve member 4S of which the position'can be adjusted by a member 41 having a screw-threaded engagement at 48 with the body and an external knob 49. The main duct 4I is also provided with a communication 5rwith the reservoir I2 through a spring-blassed relief valve 5 I.

YAt each side of the spindle part IQ the crosshead '.22 carries a piston52 (shown provided with a cup washer 53) working in a corresponding bore of the body II. These pistons are normally b-iassed to the position shown in Figure 3 by compression springs 54 which react between, the adjacent faces of the nose-piece 25 Vand the cross-head, the springs beingr held aligned by internal ngers 5t which are fast with the nose-piece and extend into hollow interiors of the pistons.

Adjacent the head ofY each piston is a Working Space 5t which communicates through ducts 51. withl the second-mentioned gallery (i. e., the one between the shoulders Sii andA 15) whereby the fluid which passes the adjustable valve 46 is admitted behind the pistons 52.

The movable control valve member associated with the, lateral communication 43 from the main duct 4I is shown at 58 in Figure 2, and it is. slidable in a bore of the body II, having a reduced end which passes freely through the cross-head 22 and carries, on the remote side of the cross-head, an abutment 59. r)She latter extends Vupwardly through a longitudinal slot SEB of the body, which slot prevents rotation of the control. valve member 58 and gives access to a grub screw 6I by which the abutment is held to the valve member in a longitudinally adjustable manner. The valve member 58 has a waist 62 which, in the starting position of the unit shownV in the drawings, permits the hydraulic fluid in the main duct to pass, through a non- 4 -constrcted communication 63, to the said second annular gallery (i. e., between the shoulders 38, 45 of the sleeve I5) and thence through the ducts 5'! to the working spaces 56.

There is a second control Valve member, and this controls the lateral communication 42 from the main duct 4I. The second control valve member is formed in two separate aligned portions 64, 65 working inA bores in the body which are separated by a partition 66. The portion 64, like the control valve member 58, has a reduced end which passes freely through the cross-head 22; and carries an adjustable abutment 61 with a fixing screw which is accessible through a longitudinal slot t8 of the body. The other portion 65 ci the second control valve member is normally held by a spring BQ to cover a communication 'It from the said second gallery round the sleeve I5.

In circumstances later to be described the cross-headV engages the abutment S'I- to move the part 54 vfor a transverse bore lI therein to cstablish a communication from the main duct 4I to a duct l2, vand the hydraulic uid thug admitted to the duct 'I2 passes out of a lateral port i3 to act.v on a head 'I4 of the valve portion 65. This causes the latter to move against the Spr-ing o8 (i;e., towards the right of Figure 2) to bring a waist 15 of the portion 65l into a position to establish a communicationbetween the lateral communication 42 and the communication 19, and.V the valve portion [i5` is held in itsV displaced position by a cam device.

The cam device includes a plate'IE (seeFigures 2 and 4) which ispivoted at I1 to the-body, and has an arcuate slot 'I8 engaged under a head 'I9 of the valve member portion 65. The thickness of the plate 'I6 is greatest at the` top endof the slot 'i8 (i. e., as regards Figure 4) and progressively diminishes towards the bottom, and a spring S0 urgesl the Plate about its pivot to cause a part, of appropriate thickness, of the plate to be moved' tovhold the head 'I9 in its extended position, thus maintaining the Waist 'I5 in registration with the communications 42 and 10. The plate 'i5 has fast with it an operating handle BI by which it can be restored to the position shown in Figure 4, for enabling the spring 69 to re-set the valve member portion 65 to the position Shown in Figure 2.

The various parts of the unit are shown in the positions they occupy at the commencement of an operation. With the electric motor running the spindle i9 is driven rotatively and so is the hydraulic pump. The delivery from the latter is to the main duct 4I, and thence through two parallel paths to the said second gallery which is in permanent communication with the working spaces 58 behind the pistons 52. One of the parallel pathsis the constricted one through the valve 45 and the other is the non-constricted one through the lateral' communication 43, the waist 62 of thel control Valve member 58 and the communication 63. Thev pistons thus advance the cross-head 22, and the latter moves the spindle I9 to bring the tool it carries up to a work-piece (not shown). At this stage, the abutment 5s having been appropriately-set, the cross-head opcrates the control valve member 58 to move its waist 62 out of registration with the communications A3 and 63, and theA further forward movement of the spindle I9, for feeding the tool into the work-piece, is at the slower rate controlled by thev setting of the valve 46 in therconstricted path. A thrust bearing 81 transmits the thrust fromthe cross-head 22 to the spindle I9. i

At the end of the tool feeding phase, the crosshead. picks up'the abutment 61 on the control valve member portion 64 (the position of which abutment will previously have been appropriately adjusted for the work in hand), and operates the portion 64 to divert some of the pressure uid in the main duct to operate the other valve portion 65 in the manner above described. While this occurs the forward motion of the spindle I9 is arrested .(so as to enable, forexample, a drill vin the chuck 28 to 'clear the bottom of a bore it has justmade in the work-piece) and the movement of thexvalve portion 65'brings its waist 15 into registration with the lateral communication 42 and a part82 leading to a passage `83 for bypassing the hydraulic fluid from the main duct 4| back to the reservoir l2. The waist I5 is also then in registration with the communication 'Ill and the passage 83, and the pistons '52, being relieved of hydraulic pressure, are returned by their springs 54 to their initial positions (the crosshead acting on shoulders, at the junctions of the control valve members 58 and 64 and their respective reduced ends, to restore the said members 58 and 64) and express the hydraulic fluid behind them back into the reservoir. During this return movement the valve member portion 65 is held in position by the plate 16. For restarting the cycle of operations just described, it is only necessary to move the plate (using the handle 8i) to allow the valve member portion 65 to cut off the by-pass and return paths, the uid in the space between the portion 65 and the partition 66 returning through a duct 84 in the valve member 64 to exhaust.

The body is provided with a foot 184 by Which the unit can be set up on a work table, and the reservoir is provided with two interchangeable plugs 85, 86 of which one closes a lling opening, through which hydraulic fluid can be poured into the reservoir, and the other has a bore so that it can act as a breather, the plugs being changed in position according as to whether the unit is mounted with the spindle vertical or horizontal.

By suitably arranging two or more of the units above described on a work table, each unit being adapted to perform a different operation on a work-piece, it can be arranged for one lof the units, at the completion of its operation, to start another of the units for the carrying out of a further operation. Thus it could be arranged` for, say, the cross-head of the rst-menti'oned unit when recovered to its initial position to move, through a suitable linkage or other means, the plate 16 of the next unit into the starting'position. In this way a group of the units could be arranged automatically to carry out a series of operations on the work-piece in sequence.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A machine tool comprising a driven shaft, a hydraulic pump and a tool spindle connected to be driven from said shaft, said tool spindle axially slidable with respect to said shaft, a hydraulic cylinder connected to receive the pump delivery, a coacting hydraulic piston rotatively supporting said tool spindle with relative axial location, said piston biassed in opposition to the effort in said cylinder of said pump delivery, a valve means for actuation by a part moving with said piston when the latter is in an intermediate position for diverting a proportion of the pump delivery :from said cylinder whereby the further travel of said assayed piston will be at a reduced speed, asecond valve means for actuation by a part moving with said piston when the latter has reached the end of its outward travel, a time delay means actuated by the opening of said second valve means for connecting said cylinder to exhaust and for diverting the remainder of the pump delivery from said cylinder, saidpiston then being returned by its bias to restore the two valve means in readiness for a subsequent actuation, and a detent means for holding said piston when it resumes its initial position.

. 2. A machine tool comprising a driven shaft, a hydraulic pump and a tool spindle connected to be driven from said shaft, said tool spindle axially slidable with respect to said shaft, two hydraulic cylinders connected to receive the pump delivery and arranged at opposite sides of said tool spindle, two coacting hydraulic pistons rotatively supporting said tool spindle with relative axial location, said pistons biassed in opposition to the effort in said cylinders of said pump delivery, a valve means for actuation by a part moving with said pistons when both of the latter are in an intermediate position for diverting a proportion of the pump delivery from both said cylinders whereby the further travel of both said pistons will be at a reduced speed, a second valve means for actuation by a p-art moving with said pistons when both the latter have reached the end of their outward travel, a time delay means actuated by the opening of said second valve means for connecting both said cylinders to exhaust and for diverting the remainder of the pump delivery from both said cylinders, said pistons then being returned by their biasses to restore the two valve means in readiness for a subsequent actuation, and a detent means for holding said pistons when the latter resume their initial positions.

3. A machine tool comprising a driven shaft, a hydraulic pump and a tool spindle connected to be driven from said shaft, said tool spindle formed in two relatively nonrotatable parts of which one is axially located and fast with said driven shaft and of which the other spindle part is axially slidable relatively to the spindle part first mentioned, two hydraulic cylinders connected to receive the pump delivery and arranged at opposite sides of said tool spindle, two coacting hydraulic pistons, a cross-head interconnecting said pistons and rotatively supporting said slid- .able spindle part with relative axial location, said pistons biassed in opposition to the eiort in said cylinders of said pumpv delivery, a movable valve member of which a stem extends slidably through a hole in said cross-head, a stop on said stem for engagement by said cross-head when said pistons are in an intermediate position so as to actuate said movable valve member for diverting a proportion of the pump delivery from said cylinders whereby the further travel of said pistons Will be at a reduced speed, a second movable valve member of which a stem extends slidably through another hole in said cross-head, a stop on said stem for engagement by said cross-head when said pistons have reached the end of their outward travel whereby to actuate said second movable valve member to deliver hydraulic fluid to actuate a time delay means, said time delay means when actuated connecting said cylinders to exhaust and diverting the remainder of the pump delivery from said cylinders, said pistons and cross-head then being returned by the piston biasses to restore the two movable valve members acentos to their initial positions` in readiness for a subsequenty actuation, and a detent mea-ns for holding said Second movable valve member against a bias in its initial position whereby to maintain said slidable spindle part retracted in readiness for a subsequent operation.

4. A machine tool, according to claim 3, of which the first-mentionedmovable valve member is actuated by said cross-head torclose one of two parallel paths through which the hydraulic fluid had been fed for moving the pistons at the faster rate, there being a relief Valve through which the fluid deniedV passage through the closed path passesl to a reservoir from which` the pump is supplied.

5. A machine tool, according to Claim 3, of which the time delay means includes. a piston type Valve which is operated,v when said second movablevalve member is actuated, to.bypass the pump delivery to a reservoir from which said pump is supplied and to connect the working spaces of said cylinders to said reservoir.

HERBERT DALES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le oithis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

